By Karen Y. Stevens

 

You hear a creek, then a sigh, then a great, big, loud yell – “It’s Christmas, get up!”

All the wrapping paper starts flying around the room as if in a whirl wind; the dog is barking, and the stove is waffling great smells.

The kids are screaming with delight, some not so much – you just can’t please everyone! Then guest start showing up with pecan pie, and sweet potato casserole, oh my!

But the beginning, and middle of 2017, was a different story. It brought sorrow and disaster. Storms back to back. Hurting people with great lose.

So many writers wrote about the camaraderie in Orange, and it’s true. I never saw, so many people trying to help, yet there are still people homeless, and without.

We can’t begin to understand the ways of God, and why things go the way they do. But a great and glorious occasion is right around the corner, that we can celebrate with boundless joy, no matter what is going on in our lives.

When Jesus was born in a manager over 2000 years ago, people doubted the way the Savior came to earth. Just as we doubt today, how God could be working in our lives thru all this turmoil.

Our God is a God of symbolism, and the Christmas tree symbolizes the spirit of the Christmas season, and to Christians, the everlasting life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The tree is our reminder that Jesus’s birth was much more. Jesus was sacrificed on a tree to give us everlasting life, to wash away the sins of the world, and the healing of our bodies, to make His birth significant.

There are those of you that have not been affected by the storms, but you have had other heart aches in your lives. And, then those of you, who have had more than your share of heartaches.

Remember, in Jesus’s life, nothing was easy, or made sense; His birth to His death.

Christmas should be a time of reflection on all the things that God has done for us.

The life He has given us; not only Jesus’s life, but our life as well. For without Jesus’s birth, we would not have our new birth, our salvation in Christ.

Hope is what gives us life, and without the hope of Jesus, and His forgiveness and return, then there is nothing.

Some Christians celebrate Advent. Advent simply means “coming” in Latin. There are three meanings of “coming”, that Christians describe in Advent. The first, and most thought of, happened when Jesus came into the world as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, to live as a man, and die for us. The second, can happen now, as Jesus wants to come into our lives. And the third, will happen in the future, when Jesus comes back to the world, as King and Judge.

My Religion does not hold Advent services, but I think it is a promising idea, to remind us of the birth, salvation, and return of Jesus Christ. We all need reminders to get us past the callousness of life.

So, remember, Jesus is the reason for the season, and I hope all of you have a merry Christmas, and remember the many blessings that the season brings.

 

Karen Y. Stevens is founder of Orange County Christian Writers Guild